Firing mechanisms of a firearm often utilize hammer-initiated firing pins. In firearms that employ this design, the trigger is connected to a hammer-cocking and hammer-releasing mechanism, whereby movement of the trigger causes the hammer to cock and, once cocked, release in a forward rotation about a pivot. Upon rotation, the hammer strikes a rear end of the firing pin, which drives the firing pin axially forward, toward a chambered round of ammunition.
Various devices have been used to prevent the firing pin from moving as a result of agitation or impact, such as a dropping of the firearm, that is not related to an intentional discharging of the firearm. Such devices include firing pin safeties that incapacitate axial movement of the firing pin.
Firing pin safeties typically consist of a mating element that is pivotally or reciprocally mounted adjacent to the respective firing pin such that, when the trigger is not actuated, the firing pin safety rests against the firing pin, thereby blocking the forward motion of the firing pin.
For example, a safety device is described in U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0170131, which is assigned to Smith and Wesson Corporation and is incorporated herein by reference. The safety device includes a flange that is spring biased into contact with a lobe of the firing pin, thereby blocking the firing pin from reciprocating axially forward and into contact with a primer of a chambered round of ammunition. The flange is reciprocally actuated out of engagement with the lobe by a pivot lock arm, which is pivotally mounted to a hammer pin of a hammer-type firing mechanism. When the trigger is actuated, the hammer-type firing mechanism is drawn rearward, which causes the pivot lock arm to rotate and, thereby, actuate the flange out of engagement with the lobe of the firing pin. Accordingly, the firing pin is blocked from forward reciprocation to discharge a chambered round of ammunition unless and until the trigger is actuated.
However, firing pin safeties known in the prior art oftentimes involve complex mechanisms and are difficult to install within the frame of the firearm.
The object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a safety device for a firearm, which, among other desirable attributes, significantly reduces or overcomes the above-mentioned deficiencies of safety devices.